Governor John Kasich names Ohio Supreme Court replacement for Democratic Justice Bill O'Neil, a gubernatorial candidate, making the all White court majority female and all Republican....Blacks have never been elected to the Ohio Supreme Court, though a few tried the endeavor, including former congresswoman the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, former Cleveland judge C. Ellen Conally, also a former Cuyahoga County Council president, and former state appellate judges Sara Harper and Yvette McGee Brown, who was appointed to the state's high court in 2011 but lost election for the seat in 2012.....O'Neil bragged on Facebook of allegedly sleeping with 50 'very attractive' women and said that the MeToo movement is a feeding frenzy that disappoints him.... O'Neil quits only four years into his six-year term, an exit that opened the door for Kasich to replace him with a Republican to make the state's high court all Republican.....O'Neil has chosen Chantelle Lewis, who is Black and a former East Cleveland City Council member, as his lieutenant governor running mate.... By editor-in-chief Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com

Newly appointed Ohio Supreme Court Justice Mary DeGenaro, a Republican and  former 7th District Court of Appeals judge whom term-limited Gov. John Kasich, also a Republican, appointed on Thursday to replace Justice William O'Neil,  the only Democrat on the state's high court who will quit this week as to his pursuit of the Democratic nomination for governor, state law of which precludes Ohio judges from seeking election to a non-judicial office. Kasich's appointment of DeGenaro to the all-White Ohio Supreme Court makes it's judicial make-up majority female and all -Republican.

Ohio Governor John Kasich

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.

By Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief

CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, COLUMUS, Ohio-The successor to Ohio Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill O'Neil, the only Democrat on the Ohio Supreme Court who is set to resign Jan. 26 in his quest this year to become governor, and who, by state law, must resign from the bench since Ohio judges are precluded from seeking nonjudicial office, was named Thursday by term-limited Gov John Kasich, a Republican and former 2016 candidate for United States president.

Kasich chose Youngstown area judge Mary DeGenaro, who set on the 7th District Court of Appeals prior to her appointment this week, to fill the unexpired term left open relative to O'Neil's controversial bid for governor, the Democrat upsetting his own party by quitting four-years into his six-year term, an exit that gave Republicans, through Gov Kasich, an in to turn the court all Republican, which last occurred in 2012.

Kasich's appointment also makes the court majority female during an era where the women's movement is flourishing behind the controversial election of Donald Trump as president, a Republican whose reelection might cringe upon who is governor of Ohio in 2020.

Ohio is a swing state that Trump won in 2016 in a close presidential election against former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee.

Voters have never elected a Black to the Ohio Supreme Court, though some have run for election, including former Ohio congresswoman the late Stephanie Tubbs Jones, retired 8th District Court of Appeals judge Sara J. Harper, former Cleveland Municipal Court judge C. Ellen Connally, also a former president of Cuyahoga County Council, and former 10th District Court of Appeals judge Yvette McGee Brown, who was appointed to the Ohio Supreme Court in 2011 by then governor Ted Strickland, a Democrat,  but lost election to the seat the following year. (Editor's note; C Ellen Connally nearly beat former chief justice Thomas Moyer, who died suddenly in 2010 while serving on the bench, as the 2004 Democratic nominee for the Ohio Supreme Court).

Comprised of a seven -member bench whose justices are elected to six-year terms and, per state law,  cannot seek reelection once they reach 70 years of age, the state's high court is led by Chief Justice Maureen O'Connor, a former lieutenant governor under former Republican governor Bob Taft.

O'Neil, 70, chose Chantelle Lewis, a Lorain schools elementary principal who is Black and a former East Cleveland City Council member, as his lieutenant governor running mate.

His gubernatorial ambitions, however, are far -fetched, say political pundits, as to winning the Democratic nomination for governor, Richard Chordray, a former Ohio secretary of state and state attorney general, and former director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in Washington, D.C., the front runner, ahead of former congressman Dennis Kucinich, also a former Cleveland mayor, both of them also favored above former state Rep Connie Pillich in the four-way race.

Republicans pursuing the governorship are state attorney general Mike DeWine, a former U.S. senator and front runner for his party's ticket, and lieutenant governor Mary Taylor, the underdog  candidate.

O'Neil is under fire for the a recent Facebook post where he brags of allegedly sleeping with some 50 women and says he is tired of escalating news of sexual harassment of women by congressmen and in Hollywood, and elsewhere, now dubbed the MeToo Movement,.

The president of the Ohio State Bar Association, Randall Comer,  quickly demanded O'Neil's immediate resignation in response to the fallout, as have state legislators, O'Neil dismissing it as political and saying he has not yet officially declared his candidacy with the board of elections and will resign this week as planned, and that his plans to run for governor have not changed.

The deadline for filing petitions with the board of elections for potential eligibility for placement on the ballot for the May 8  primary election is Feb 7.

 The general election is November 6, 2018.

Justice O'Neil's controversial Facebook post, for which he later offered an apology, is as follows:



Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.